The Scottish News Archives

[Saor Alba]

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An Island's Fight: Arran's Campaign for Recognition
Aleisha Clark, South-West Desk

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Arran is a unique island with a unique culture and history. A mountainous island north of the uplands but located firmly in the Lowlands, it is a popular tourist destination and home to a peaceful and proud people. It has its own distinct dialects of Gaelic and Scots, and a history connecting it to St. Patrick and the Fianna, Brendan the Navigator, Ossian, and Robert the Bruce. The veracity of this history is of course debated, but the locals have no concerns over it. For the Arannach they are children of the island that the Fían hunted on every August, that gave refuge to Robert the Bruce, and that houses the remains of Malvina. But despite the immense pride of this small island, the people feel small. Arran is not a small island in Ayrshire as it is commonly thought of, but it is a part of Buteshire. And the locals resent this.

Let it be made abundantly clear that the folk of Arran have no ill will towards those in Bute or Cumbrae. After all, many have family, friends, or other relations to their island cousins. But representing over 40% of Buteshire's population, the locals in Arran feel slighted that the county is named after just one of the three inhabited islands. Arran has a population of 8,500 while Bute has a population of 8,900 of them, and yet this small gap is enough, in the opinions of one activist, to constantly sideline Arran.

Enter the Arran Party. After an article in Meirghe na h-Arainn lamenting this situation, two councillors defected from the National League to form a localist alternative for voters in Arran. Maili MacNeish and Craig Neckall formed the Arran Party on a platform which advocated improving infrastructure for tourism, protecting the island's wildlife, and supporting local businesses during off-season. But aside from these policies which many other candidates will rally behind, their poster stood out for another reason. Underneath the bold "Vote for Arran" header, the first policy listed was to demand a renaming of the county. An Arran Party government would not be a government for Buteshire, but a government for the Clyde Islands.

"For decades now, locals in Arran have not referred to Arran as being part of Buteshire but rather as a part of the Clyde Islands" Neckall related to us. "Arran is barely smaller than Bute, we contribute more in taxes, and yet we are part of a county that does not even recognise us in its name. We are being taken for granted."

The party obtained five seats in the last election, with Neckall and MacNeish being re-elected in their constituencies, and three new seats being picked up across the island. Arran sends twelve councillors to Rothesay, and the shake-up of this traditional bastion of the National League came as a surprise. The party lost its majority on the council for the first time since the 1980s as a result of this, though continues to form the local government with the support of independents.

"It is, frankly, a petty issue. Arran faces more significant problems that most of the island wish to solve rather than a renaming of the county, which, the Arran Party neglects to mention, would be costly for all the islands" one National League councillor informed SNTV.

The debate is not seen as petty by locals however. The Arran Party secured 39% of the vote and a local survey found that 60% of Arran residents would favour a rename of the county. Over in Bute, residents were largely unbothered. Almost two thirds did not care about the issue, though more supported it than opposed it - 21% to 15%. Buteshire's Transisland Committee, a council committee focusing on relations between the three islands, said it was a non-issue that would not be explored by the county.

With a general and local elections approaching, the dismissive attitude of the National League may come back to bite them. A poll held in the Buteshire constituency suggests that the party would come runner up to the Progressives if a general election was held today, the first time since 1946 that they lost the constituency. To beat the National League for the runner up spot in the general election would suggest that the party will sweep Arran's seats in the next local election. Local activists have already established the Arran Committee, an independent pressure group promoting pride and political determination for Arran. A motion tabled at their first meeting even suggested they would support the abolition of Buteshire County and Arran's annexation into Ayrshire as a preferable alternative to "living under Rothesay's yoke".

Only time will tell how affairs pan out in this small island, but the determination of the Bruce seems to be alive and kicking in many young Arannach.

[Saor Alba]

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Steering the Ship of State
Andy Paterson, on behalf of the Democratic Caucus

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It is the privilege of a lifetime for any man or woman to serve the Kingdom of Scotland and to serve our sovereign as a Member of Parliament. None can doubt that this is a privileged job, but it is a job where we must be willing to sacrifice prospects of greater privilege (such as cabinet positions) for the good of the country. In my capacity as a Member of Parliament for twenty-three years, I must address this essay to my colleagues in the Progressive Party, to other parliamentarians, to my constituents here in Midlothian, and most importantly to the rest of the Scottish public.

Our country is at a crossroads, facing significant challenges on all fronts. Social ills such as poverty and substance abuse are rampant, questions of human rights and equality flare up tensions among rival camps, and we seek to balance a love for our heritage with a desire to move forward together as a nation. The great challenges of the day cannot be overcome as a divided nation, it is crucial that the country comes together irrespective of our backgrounds to confront them as one. The far-right and the far-left are not the same, but they are equal in their evil.

Extremism in both of its forms is coming to prominence once more in Scotland. Left-wing radicalism and the far-right have achieved high points in their history recently, and it is unlikely their prominence will fade this May. The Progressive Party's agreement with the Republicans is an offence against the democratic values it professes to hold dear. The Republicans are a party of extremists, whose youth wing tolerates calls to violence and hostility to human rights. They claim to do so out of a desire to liberate the working class, but their violent socialism would keep the working class down while pushing the middle classes down with them. The Progressive Party, which abandoned the ideals of class warfare left-over from the Labour Party, is tacitly endorsing this. For the good of Scotland, the Progressive Party must not continue their government with the Republicans after May, even if it means a spell on the other side of the chamber.

We can see two trends in the extremist parties which play into each other: hatred and deceit. As a party, Restoration has spread falsehoods about political opponents and about migrant communities. These lies spark hatred amongst their membership and the public, which culminated in the harassment campaigns of Janice Annand, MP for East Lothian. This has no place in Scottish politics. Likewise, the Republicans called landlords parasites and within a month their youth wing refused to condemn the physical assault of Mike Taigen and his aide outside of parliament on the grounds that he was a landlord.

It is the mark of civilisation that we can come together as adults and discuss our problems. Society can confront issues caused by individuals without dehumanising them, let alone employing vigilante violence to try and intimidate them and their supporters.

It is crucial that, if democracy is to be preserved, the centre-right and the centre-left must agree that they have more in common with each other than they do with the far-right or the far-left respectively. A shared commitment to representative democracy, the constitutional order, the rule of law must be paramount. Further, opposition to the polarisation that the far-right and far-left desire is crucial in both the short-term and the long-term. Outside of politics, the media and civil society must play a role in curtailing misinformation and cease to give favourable platforms to those who reject our common values. It is not undemocratic for a democratic society to preserve itself, rather it is common sense.

Scotland's modern political history is shaped by reform and progress for the common good. Statesmen of conservative, liberal, and progressive natures have all upheld our democracy while placing different emphases in pursuit of bettering Scotland. All of these focuses have been healthy and sensible, and it is important that we keep it that way. The history of moderate politics has improved Scotland because it has been rooted in genuine concern for our country. The progressive, the liberal, and the conservative have always sought a better country and they have done so because they are rational and charitable. But extremism is rooted in hatred, fear, and is fundamentally irrational.

The fringes of politics will never not exist. Extremism will always find a home in any free society, but it is the duty of patriotic citizens to keep it a fringe. As a member of the Progressive Party I commit myself to the defence of Scottish democracy, and so I announce the launch of the Democratic Caucus to do so. With six other Progressive MPs and forty-five councillors, I announce my resignation from the National Progressive Committee. The Democratic Caucus will promote the progressive values the party has always stood for while maintaining a commitment to liberal democracy and a hostility to extremism of all shades.

Extremism is indeed a vice, no matter its context.

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This was a guest essay written by Andy Paterson, Progressive MP for Midlothian, on behalf of the Democratic Caucus.

[Saor Alba]

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Hunter's Rebuke: Will Paterson Leave?
Craig Pires, Parliamentary Desk

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Scottish politics was taken by storm yesterday after the Progressive MP Andy Paterson published an essay in The Review criticising his party's cooperation with the Republicans. The essay attacked what Paterson referred to as "extremist" politics, namely that espoused by the Republicans and hAiseag, and called on the Scottish public to reject extremism. Styling himself as a defender of democratic and progressive values, the essay and launch of the Democratic Caucus has became the number one story in Scottish politics. Along with Paterson, six other Progressive MPs have joined the new organisation and sources close to Paterson state that initial discussions mentioned creating a new political party.

The Prime Minister broke his silence this morning when questioned in parliament. Hunter said that he welcomes debate within the party but warned against making internal matters a public affair, and expressed his desire to continue coalition with the Republicans if it meant being able to form government. The Prime Minister stated that "any party would prefer to command a majority and pass their own policies without too much fuss, but if compromising ensures a progressive future then it is a sacrifice worth making". The Democratic Caucus are yet to respond to this rebuke.

Left-wingers within the party have criticised the Democratic Caucus, noting that much of their support comes from the League. However, a survey in December showed that over a third of Progressive voters and a quarter of members would oppose continuing their coalition with the Republicans after this year's election.

The seven Progressive parliamentarians in the Democratic Caucus are Andy Paterson (Midlothian), Beth Fleming (Glasgow), Derek Nicholson (Fife), Angus Forsyth (Fife), Ian Cameron (Aberdeenshire), Cormac Anderson (West Lothian) and Isbeil Comhan (Lanarkshire). Paterson claimed forty-five councillors as members, but none have been publicly named with the exception of Edinburgh's deputy-mayor Rob Lanach. Commentators noted that the size of the bloc may appear to be small, but its defection would cause significant issues for the government and the advent of a new party could cost them another term in government.

In an article for the Southern Mail, Progressive councillor Joseph McPhaid stated that a majority of the Democratic Caucus' councillors sit in just five councils, and that three of them would be at risk of losing their Progressive-led governments if they defected.

The reception by the Scottish National League has been largely positive. While Saoirse Connor did not directly approve of Paterson, she stated an opposition to extremism and reiterated her pledge to not form government with hAiseag. Donald Ellar, the Shadow Education Minister, tweeted his support for Paterson's prioritisation of country before party. Other backbenchers expressed similar sentiments.

With Hunter's pledge to continue governing with the Republicans, it is unsure how the Caucus will move forward. As things stand, their defection would bring the government to 75 seats, one less than the required 76, and polling suggests that the government will enter opposition following the June elections. Current projections give Connor's National League between 73 and 80 seats, while the Progressives are expected to fall to the high 50s.

The advent of a new political party would certainly shake up Scottish politics, but could they leave a lasting impact?

[Saor Alba]

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The Football Round-up: February 04
Tom Marshall, Sports Desk

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Today will see the first round of games following the closure of the January transfer window. In the Premier League, reigning champions Dumfries match up against relegation battlers Skye, while their southern brethren in Ayr face off against a resurgent Stirling side. Dumfries have had a good run of form in the Champions League this season, finishing second in their group to Catania, and strengthened their team this January with the acquisition of Danish midfielder Marcus Callesen. Ayr have struggled domestically this season despite a good Conference league performance, and Stirling will hope to capitalise on this as they visit the Wallace Ground this evening.

The match that everyone is looking forward to in the Premier League however is the Glasgow derby. Royal Glasgow currently sit in second place behind Dumfries, but their mid-table neighbours in Strathclyde won't give up the three points that easily. Strathclyde secured a last minute equaliser when they hosted the Royals in September, and they'll be hoping to bag plenty of goals with the form that Gerrit Duerink is in. The Dutchman has scored seven in his last ten games, drawing with Stirling's Euan Henderson at the top of the Premier League scoreboard.

The National League has a quiet weekend ahead of it. Twelfth placed Arbroath match up against newly promoted Rutherglen Athletic, while title challengers Dunbar travel to Ayrshire to face Kilmarnock. Pitlochry make the journey up to Ullapool to play their first game with Sean Abbott in charge, as Ullapool will attempt to keep their mid-table form without captain Liam McMahon, who picked up an injury in training last week.

Despite the big games across the RSFA leagues, much attention is on the Upper Conference as Balloch star Jacob McGowan returns after a seven year stint in the Premier League with Glasgow Thistle. Balloch have fell by the way side in the past three seasons after dominating the Conference in the 2010s, but they currently sit six points clear of Galloway and Largs, the latter of whom they will travel down south to play tomorrow. Newly promoted Kirkintilloch host Bannockburn today in an exciting mid-table clash that will feature Premier League veterans Tom Forrest and Oscar Jensen playing for each side respectively. Forrest retired from professional football last season after sixteen years with Glasgow Thistle and has returned to his boyhood club as a coach and reserve player.

[Saor Alba]

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Make Room for the Middle
Nieve Tait

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Scottish voters will head to the ballot box in May for what polls suggest will be a rivetting election. The incumbent, Alistair Hunter, goverrns in coalition with the Republicans but polling has consistently gave the National League a narrow lead over the coalition. If things do not change soon, Hunter will be ejected after just a single term as Prime Minister. But are the National League his biggest threat?

Andy Paterson's launch of the Democratic Caucus has sent shockwaves through Scottish politics, but were he to announce an independent political party that could shake things up even more. Two polls commissioned have been released this morning suggesting that he would have a big impact. The Glasgow Mail commissioned a poll via PubOp, who found that 8% of voters would be willing to cast their first preference for an independent centrist party. Likewise, Boyd Research were commissioned by ScotNews and they found that 13% would cast their first preference the Democratic Caucus, compared to just 21% for the Progressives. While this would represent the first preference vote share and not seat total, it is important to remember that the RSP won 13% of the vote and secured fourteen seats in 2019.

The National League is hovering around 40% of the vote, only a small increase from their 2019 share but earlier seat projections have suggested the party could obtain a narrow majority with this. Their biggest obstacle will be the success of hAiseag. The far-right party has polled as high as 15% in December, and Saoirse Connor's unwillingness to enter into coalition with them has radicalised some on the League's right-wing.

But it is not just the centre-left which loses support to centrist movements. Boyd Research's poll found that almost a fifth of the Democratic Caucus' vote would come from people who voted for the National League in 2019, while just ten percent would come from Republican voters.

The Progressive Party succeeds because of its ability to mobilise voters in urban areas, but a centrist movement like the Democratic Caucus could jeopardise their middle class voter base in this area. Paterson's supporters are disproportionately younger, suggesting the focus on environmentalism and housing from the DC's policy sheet resonates strongly with the youth. Paterson is seen as a fresh face despite his veteran status in parliament. He has been a parliamentarian since 2000 but is still only forty-eight. This middle class voter base will also hurt the National League in urban areas, and the ability to edge out final tally seats could tip the scales in favour or against the League.

The response to the Caucus by hAiseag has been surprisingly quiet. MacCrosain likely recognises that his party's demographic does not overlay with the young professionals who would vote for Paterson and company, but he is usually quick to respond to attacks made on him no matter who is making them.

After Hunter's rebuke of the Caucus yesterday, Paterson announced that they will be discussing their programme going forward and announcing "an energetic campaign" for Scottish democracy in the near future. What this exactly means is unclear, but it is anticipated that he will either challenge Hunter for leadership of the party or defect from the Progressives all together. Hunter would lose his parliamentary majority if all seven Caucus MPs defected, but without cooperation from hAiseag there would be no ability to form a new government. Unless there are further defections, Alistair Hunter will likely serve out the remainder of this term as Prime Minister.

How has centrism fared in the past? Prior to the ascension of the Labour Party, the Democratic Party was Scotland's primary alternative to the right-wing. When Labour took over as the main opposition to conservatism at the end of the 19th century, the Democrats fell into a slow decline before disbanding. Those who opted to remain in politics formed the National Democratic Party, which synthesised the pro-business politics of the centre-right with progressive attitudes to political & social issues. While a small movement at first, they experienced much success in urban areas and reache a high point in the 1944-48 parliamentary term with 23 seats.

The National Democrats slowly lost popularity after 1948, but liberalism as an idea has never died in Scotland. The Liberal Forum remains a respected think tank, and moderates within the National League have always been identified as carrying on a centrist tradition. Paterson has an opportunity not to revive this tradition, which has never died, but rather just to give it a voice once more.

[Saor Alba]

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New Cross-Party Commission on Island Affairs Launched
Alex Merren, Islands Desk

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Those of past generations will be familiar with the Island Affairs Commission which shut down in 1976. A flagship policy of Morgan Creag's "One Nation" conservatism, it is no surprise that Saoirse Connor launched a campaign to re-establish it. Connor started her campaign to re-establish it September, but it was not until Monday afternoon that the Scottish Parliament voted overwhelmingly to reconvene the Commission. The new IAC will be provisionally chaired by Lady Heline Garath, the former chair of Orkney Council, until a new chair is appointed following the general election in May.

The original Commission was launched by Creag as part of an administrative reform with three other commissions: the Commission on Highland Affairs, the Commission on Metropolitan Affairs, and the Commission on the Affairs of Lowland Towns. Its objective was to perform research into islander issues and outline policy proposals which would remedy these issues and better connect the islands with mainland Scotland.

The big issue of Creag's time was the difficulty of travelling from the islands to the mainlands. Prior to the IAC's establishment, most smaller islands would only have weekly services to the mainland if they were lucky. Successive governments invested in establishing more regular services, and now every populated island has at least three services back and forth per week - with at least one required to be a same-day return.

Other issues involved local economics as well as access to electricity and other public services. Creag's IAC was deemed to be a major success, and was shut down by the Gallacher government in 1976. Islanders celebrated its success, but lamented its closure. Residents of smaller islands have long complained that the closure of the Commission robbed them of their voice in Scottish politics, and its closure has exacerbated local issues. Gallacher's government later directed the Ministry for Local Government to establish a Secretary for Island Affairs, which still operates to this day, but it was never warmly welcomed by islanders.

Today, islanders face significant issues that threaten their way of life. A combination of brain drain, technological advancement, and neglect by Edinburgh has left the islands underdeveloped. Saoirse Connor made the re-establishment of the Commission a priority and mentioned it as a cornerstone in her campaign for leadership of the National League. Prime Minister Hunter appointed Lady Heline Garath as Chair of the Commission, and over the next two months her job will be to establish it in preparation for beginning operations on the first of April.

Lady Garath, who was teaching at Edinburgh University until 2020, was the Chair of Orkney Council for sixteen years. Her leadership of the Commission was recommended by both the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, and she is expected to meet with the Prime Minister in the coming days. She will only hold the title provisionally, with a permanent appointment being made after the election.

[Saor Alba]

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Heline Garath: A Profile
Marion Kirsten

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After being appointed chair of the new cross-party Commission on Island Affairs, Heline Garath's name will be in the headlines for a few days. But for many outside of the Northern Isles or Edinburgh University's Scottish studies department, the name will not be too familiar.

Heline Garath is a proud Orcadian. Born in 1951 in Finstown, she has involved herself in the affairs of her home island for her whole adult life. At fifteen years old she left education to work for her uncle as a secretary in the Council offices at Kirkwall. During this time, she learned the complexities of local affairs, and progressed up the ranks to become the Deputy Chair of the Orcadian Culture Board at just twenty-eight years old, and ran in the 1981 local elections, winning a seat in Kirkwall.

Garath cemented herself as a prominent public speaker with a concern for local culture and transport infrastructure. It was her campaigning in 1985 that created Orcrail, the light rail network connecting Kirkwall, Stromness, Finstown, and Dounby. After the success of the Orcrail campaign, Garath met with a group of councillors from Shetland to develop the plans for a new grouping of local public figures from the Northern Isles. The "Northern Isles League" was launched in 1986, with its two constituent parties "Wir Orkney" and "Wir Shetland". Garath would be Wir Orkney's first president, a position she held until 2007.

In 1989, Garath led the Wir Orkney group to a majority on the local council, and at thirty-eight years old she became the first woman to chair Orkney Council. Her administration lasted between 1989 and 2005, the longest of any leader of Orkney Council, and oversaw a crucial period in the island's history. Her successful lobbying of Edinburgh politicians secured record funding for rural communities, and Thomas Fearghasdan became a regular visitor at Kirkwall.

Garath has been credited as a pioneer of modern Scottish environmentalism. One of her first focuses as leader of Orkney Council was to make the island entirely dependent on renewables, and this was achieved with a programme of investments into wind turbines and hydroelectric energy. The Northern Energy Institute was opened by her and Fearghasdan in 1994, allowing for a range of professional research jobs to open up in Orkney. When Fearghasdan resigned from office and Callan MacLeod became Scotland's northernmost Prime Minister, Garath lobbied for a new agreement on island affairs.

She led Wir Orkney to successive majorities in 1993, 1997, and 2001. Despite being proud of her movement's success, Garath narrated a regret for her role in introducing partisanship to local politics. At home, she has received much criticism for being "Kirkwall-centric", a charge she denies. In her final term as leader of Orkney Council, she prioritised developments to local infrastructure. Healthcare, education, and transport were falling behind national standards. All of Orkney's high schools and junior high schools received new buildings and funding for local hospitals was doubled over a four year period.

Ahead of the 2005 election, Garath expressed her intent to retire from Orcadian politics. She took up a post lecturing in Orcadian history and literature at the University of the Highlands, Orkney, and Shetland, and from 2016-2020 she taught at Edinburgh University. After her retirement from education, she launched the Orkney Institute, a non-profit devoted to Orcadian affairs and preserving Orkney's culture. Now, she is set to lead the new Island Affairs Commission as it prepares to launch this April.

[Saor Alba]

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Church Law faces Progressive scrutiny
Craig Pires, Parliamentary Desk

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Scottish politics has long operated under two tenets, among others. The first is that major policies should not be shoehorned in at the end of a government's life without bipartisan support. With polling consistently suggesting Saoirse Connor will become Prime Minister in May, Alistair Hunter is expected to hold off on implementing any major policies. So far he has done this, completing much of his legislative agenda before November.

The second is that the Church Law is sacrosanct.

Carefully crafted by conservatives and progressives during Kenneth Martin's second term, it expressly defines Christianity as the "bedrock" of Scottish society and privileges religious denominations with a tax-exempt status and public support. While Scotland does not have a state religion, the Church Law among others helps to blur Scotland's de jure secularism. While liberals and various factions of progressives have always challenged the Church Law, a broad tent of conservatives and moderate progressives have agreed that it should not be touched.

The National League sacrificed a lot to ensure the passage of the Church Law in 1951 and have not amended it since, despite holding large majorities under A. D. Gibb and Thomas Fearghasdan, two Prime Ministers from the party's conservative wing. Because of the bipartisan nature of the law, and its opposition being so small, it never became a major flash-point for political discourse, until now.

Hunter announced that the Progressive Party would launch a month long investigation into the nature of Church-State relations in Scotland and that they would table a bill to slash state support for religious organisations in April. The RSP has welcomed the investigation, and some suspect he was bullied into it by the party's left-wing as moderates begin to side with the increasingly disobedient Democratic Caucus. But would such a bill pass?

Unlikely. The Democratic Caucus immediately expressed their intent to vote against such a bill, while stating support for research into Church-State relations. If the entire National League and hAiseag voted with them, then the bill would not pass even with support from the rest of the government, which is unlikely. The Progressives retain a large number of Presbyterian MPs who make up the Christian Left Society. Even as society secularises, politics does not.

The National League is looking to capitalise on this move by Hunter though. Citing MacLeod and Corsby's lack of major policy implementations in 2000 and 2019 respectively, Saoirse Connor said that it is unthinkable to try and push such a major policy through right before an election. The party's Twitter account issued three tweets supporting the Church Law in response.

Hunter's gambit might pay off though. As the party is expected to be defeated in May, insiders say that the strategy at present is minimising the loss rather than trying to prevent it. Any attempt to prevent it, one source said, would inevitably come off as too "desperate", while a more limited approach of aggressive campaigning coupled with a handful of big policy announcements could keep the party afloat.

[Saor Alba]

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Launch of the Scottish Development Party
Peter Olsonn

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Four years of tension in the Progressive Party have finally reached a boiling point, and after two weeks of uncertainty the Democratic Caucus has broke off from the Progressive Party to establish a new political party. The Scottish Development Party, in the interim chaired by Andy Paterson, consists of seven former members of the Progressive Party and has robbed the government of their majority, meaning that elections may be held earlier than May. Paterson's defection signals a massive blow to Alistair Hunter as polling suggested a new centrist party could rob the party of a significant portion of its votes, especially in suburban communities.

Paterson gave the keynote speech for the party's launch, summarising it as an "innovative" party committed to Scottish democracy and civic participation. Five additional speakers, four parliamentarians and one councillor, touched upon five themes across the six hour-long launch event which Paterson said the party's election manifesto will revolve around. The first topic, democracy, was given by the Glaswegian parliamentarian Dr. Beth Fleming, who spoke on the threat that extremism poses to a healthy democracy and its citizenry. Fleming advocated for increased civics education and a government campaign for democracy.

The second topic was reform, given by the Deputy Mayor of Edinburgh, Rob Lanach, who is expected to step down from his post and stand for the party in May's election. Lanach, a renowned author of popular history works, gave a brief summary of Scotland's history of political reforms and described the party's commitment to positive and organic change within Scotland's constitutional system. Lanach's emphasis on organic change and commitment to the constitution marks a degree of conservatism within the party that earned him criticism from populist commentators.

The fifth topic was social justice. Isbeil Comhan, parliamentarian from Lanarkshire, spoke on the importance of ensuring equality of opportunity as a means to foster a properly-functioning democratic society. She stressed the Development Party's commitment to Gaelic language rights and support for access to high quality education, healthcare, and social services across the country. She was followed up by Aberdeenshire's Ian Cameron who spoke about the party's commitment to environmentalism. He promised an increase in funding for public transport, the launch of local commissions on environmentalism, and a committee on ecological renewal.

The final speech came from Angus Forsyth, a member of Parliament for Fife. Forsyth, as the former chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, announced the party's stance on global issues. He stressed the importance of Scotland's continued membership in the European Union, the Atlantic Cooperation Council, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. He emphasised the importance of global cooperation to combat the climate crisis and achieve sustainable development.

These six speeches were covered live by SNTV, the BBC, and SNB News, and snap polls by Boyd Research gave the new Development Party a favourable response. Of those who watched all six hours, 61% replied that they viewed the Development Party favourably and 16% said that they would vote for the Development Party at the next election. Of those who were given a summary of the core points introduced by the party, 73% viewed them favourably and 19% said that they would vote for them. A standard poll issued by PubOp found that 16% would vote for the Development Party, compared to 39% for the National League, 23% for the Progressives, 10% for hAiseag, and 6% for the Republicans.

While the launch event is over and the premises have been vacated, Scots will look eagerly to this upstart party. Commentators were up all day discussing the event, with questions about the party's participation in government. The single digit gap in the polls has raised concerns for progressives after the party narrowly avoided Syrizafication. The question of whether or not the Development Party would knock the centre-left into third place was raised, as has been the question of their participation in government should neither major party win a majority.

[Saor Alba]

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The Next Progressive Leader?
Edited by Marcus Erichsen

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With the Progressive Party's defeat in May looking more and more certain as each day passes, The Review has gathered its writers to compose a list of possible successors to Alistair Hunter as leader of the party.

Alistair Hunter has led the Progressive Party since 2013. While the sixty-three year old, centre-left statesman has only been in power since 2019, his work in reorganising the party following its defeat in 2013 led to a revival in 2016 that almost cost the Nationals their majority. He has been a prominent figure in Progressive Politics since the 1990s, serving firstly as the Shadow Minister of Internal Affairs during MacKinnon's shadow cabinet, before assuming the ministerial post between 2000 and 2008. For the next five years he would serve as Defence Minister, issuing popular reforms to enhance gender equality in HM Royal Scottish Armed Forces and improve living conditions for servicemen. But what happens when he is gone?

Oscar Besson and Ruth Neils are of the opinion that Julia Corselle is the likely successor. The former Minister of Internal Affairs, she is 57 years old and represents part of the Progressive Party's old guard, having sat in Parliament since the 1996 election. She is a close ally of Hunter and generally sticks to the party's mainstream, social democratic wing. Her tenure as Internal Affairs minister has been controversial to the public due to her decisively pro-immigration stance, but largely approved of by party membership. She is not a minister who is known by the entire public, but this, coupled with her longevity in the party and lack of major scandals, may play to her advantage as a future party leader.

Conall Gordon is an unavoidable candidate for party leadership, says Dan Hamilton. The young Foreign Affairs minister is rarely out of the news, meeting with dignitaries and representing Scotland on a global stage regularly. His image as a humanitarian committed to Scotland's national interests in the international arena has won him much support from the public. Recent polling suggested that Gordon is the second most popular minister, only behind the retiring transport minister, Ryan Neilson. It is likely that even if the Progressives lose office in May, Gordon would return to government one day.

On the party's left-wing, there is no bigger name than Èibhlin Riabhaich. The Gaelic speaking populist has committed her time as Justice Minister to making the police appear friendlier and the prison system more rehabilitative. A star in the eyes of party members, her soft approach to crime has made her a boogeyman for conservatives. Riabhaich was an accomplished lawyer before entering politics, and holds a PhD in the History of Law from the University of Glasgow. She has applied it masterfully as the Minister of Justice, even defending herself in judicial reviews over her actions during Lockdown. A 2021 poll found that 31% of Progressives would support her for leadership, making her the single most popular candidate out of seven others at the time.

What about non-ministers? Marion Kirsten and Caelan Young believe that the next generation of Progressive leadership will come from a few names in the party's youth. Catherine Forbes has earned some attention as a young back-bencher from the Highlands, espousing a "progressive Christianity" which brings together the consistent life ethic and economic progressivism. While divisive among the party's left-wing for her pro-life and anti-euthanasia stance, she played a key role as a student activist in the abolition of the death penalty.

Along with her in that campaign was Elijah Holmes, the only Jewish parliamentarian and a member of the Party Values Group, who Darragh Cowie believes could be a unity candidate for the party's left-wing. Holmes has been a loud voice for environmentalism and increased public spending within the party, previously serving as Deputy Minister for Housing & Development before resigning for personal reasons. His fellow Dundonian, Molly Vincent, now serves in that post and she has also been touted as a future leader by Darragh Fulton. Often seen campaigning in public, she is a figurehead of Scotland's movement of young left-wing activists. She is one of the few Progressives to self-identify as a socialist, calling herself an ideological daughter of Keir Hardie.

At this stage, nobody knows who will succeed Hunter. The election is three months away and while it is highly likely the Progressives are defeated, it is not guaranteed. Regardless of the outcome, somebody will have to lead a party that is in desperate need of forging a coherent identity and a coherent path forward.

[Saor Alba]

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Government Calls General Election on 8th of May
Craig Pires, Parliamentary Desk

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Following weeks of speculation that an early election would be called following the loss of the government's majority, the Prime Minister surprised Parliament with a bill this morning that has called a new general election on the 8th of May. After informing the Leader of the Opposition that His Majesty the King of Scots had approved of it, the election was called unanimously with just four abstentions. The campaign period will begin officially next Monday, that is the twentieth of March.

The Progressive government has been stalled ever since the Development Party broke off last month, but the election was never going to happen later than May so it is not a surprise. A source in the Progressive Party stated that cabinet ministers had encouraged Hunter to hold off on an early election and to just wait out due to the inevitability of defeat. Sources in the National League and hAiseag have informed SNTV that launch events will happen on Monday.

Hunter's government struggled through the pandemic and economic recovery has been slow. The loss of his majority last month due to centrist defectors has been taken as a signal of his inability to lead the party. Opinion polling currently predicts devastating losses for the left-wing government, with the Progressives under 25% while the RSP are predicted less than 5%. This would be the worst performance for left-wing parties in a century. The National League has held firm at 40% for the last six months.

The National League and hAiseag are expected to issue their manifesto at their Monday launch events, while the Progressive Party is holding off on their launch until the following Thursday.

This will be the seventh election of the twenty-first century and the first to be held following the launch of the Development Party. At present, hAiseag are predicted their best results ever while the National League are expected to obtain a comfortable majority. Saoirse Connor was observed grinning from ear to ear as the election was called, with some observers already describing her as Prime Minister in waiting. The Leader of the Opposition would be Scotland's youngest Prime Minister if elected, with her brand of "progressive conservatism" helping the National League perform well in councils that are traditionally Progressive heartlands.

Social media responses were mostly ambivalent, with one Progressive activist telling his followers that he is treating election day as if he was "getting wisdom teeth removed. Painful, but it will be over and done with". Unlike the 2019 election, this election is not an early election and as such the lack of surprise has not generated a buzz like its predecessor. The deadline for calling an election would have been a week on Monday.

[Saor Alba]

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The First Week of Campaigning
Calvin Murphy

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Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday saw the launches of the five major parties' campaigns ahead of the general election in May. The National League and hAiseag launched their campaigns with their manifestos on Monday, presenting bold, reformist visions for Scotland. Saoirse Connor, described as a Prime Minister by some, took centre stage with the party's new manifesto titled "Reviving Scotland". The manifesto presented a bold vision for an "organic, human-centric Scotland" which displayed attitudes reminiscent of post-war Christian democracy and the Red Toryism of Nova Scotia, a break from the liberal-conservative attitude that the National League has embraced for the past thirty years. Despite this, it remained filled to the brim with appeals to business and entrepreneurship, including support for start-ups, the service industry, and the retail industry as Scotland recovers from Covid-19.

The launch of the hAiseag campaign included its manifesto "Scottish Government for Scottish People", a title which aptly describes the ethnic nationalist rhetoric of the party. Eòin MacCrosain announced his goal to restrict net migration from outside of Europe and Nova Scotia to just 10,000 per year and introduce a mandatory deportation for any foreign-born, non-citizen inhabitant of Scotland who has committed a crime within a decade of arrival. This approach, some observers have noted, is markedly more restrained than his past calls. MacCrosain famously advocated a complete closure of Scotland's borders in Parliament before the 2019 election. While immigration was the big focus, his calls for attacking welfarism and cutting back on the size of state display a libertarianism that has been latent in the party since its establishment. This sharp, rightward shift on economics could harm the National League, the traditional party of right-wing economics.

A day later, the Development Party and the Republican Socialist Party launched their campaigns. Fleshing out the party's ideology, Andy Paterson gave the keynote speech unveiling the Development Party's "Uniting Scotland" manifesto. His description of "free, fair, and forward-thinking" economics led to comparisons with former English Prime Minister Tony Blair. The manifesto advocates a relaxation of zoning laws in suburban areas and a review of Scottish drug policy. The RSP's launched their campaign later that evening, with a manifesto titled "Put Workers First". As the name suggests, it was a deeply socialist work calling for the nationalisation of industry, increased public spending and taxation, and the introduction of parliamentary representation for trade unions. The party's leader, Lincoln Cowan, also called for the abolition of the Church Law and the adoption of French-style Laicism to counter a "backwards bigotry" that "some" in organised religion profess.

The Progressives waited until Thursday and with all eyes on them, Prime Minister Hunter unveiled the party's "Positive, Prosperous, Progressive" manifesto. The only evaluation possible of his speech was that it was desperate. The party is campaigning on improving labour standards and environmental regulations while also creating a "free environment for business to prosper". It is campaigning on alleviating burdens on families while advocating income tax raises across the board. It is a desperate attempt to appeal to the centre, the centre-left, and the radical left, one that will likely fail to appeal to any of them. Despite this, a similar call to that of Connor's for increased house-building and investment in sustainable infrastructure was well-received by the audience and party activists.

The manifesto launches have displayed an increasingly polarised Scotland, perhaps vindicating the core theme of the Development Party's call for national unity. Left-wing activists have described MacCrosain as a fascist while right-wing activists describe Cowan as a student of Stalinism. Hunter was ruthlessly mocked by the centre-right while misogynistic tropes were spewed by critics at Connor. As far as polling goes, the launches have done little to affect voting intention. However, all of the published polls since the launches came before the Progressive manifesto launch. Boyd Research and EuroPoll have stated that a comprehensive survey of over 4,500 eligible voters will be conducted between Friday 24th and Wednesday 29th to gauge attitudes to the manifestos.

With the manifesto launches out of the way, the usual campaign events will get under way. Hustings, door-knockings, rallies, and debates will ensue. Five debates will be held in April by different broadcasters with all five party leaders stating an intent to be present. With this, an exciting campaign is now truly underway in Scotland's most heated election in a century.

[Saor Alba]

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Saoirse Connor: A Profile
Finlay Cohen

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Just ten years ago she was finishing her undergraduate degree. Now she is considered to be a Prime Minister in waiting. The story of Saoirse Connor's rise to power in the National League is a remarkable one that has inspired women across Scotland's political divide, but who is she?

Saoirse Connor is a native of Kirkcudbright, born to FID researcher Hamish Connor and local councillor Melissa Connor in August 1991. While her mother was an independent, she worked closely with the National League and Saoirse joined the party when she was seventeen. Studying history and politics at the University of Dumfries, she became chair of the university's branch of the National League and wrote her undergraduate dissertation on the history of conservative thought in Scotland. Even at the age of twenty-one, a "progressive conservatism" outlook was taking shape in her mind.

Connor went on to work as a researcher in the Scottish Parliament for the party, who selected her as the candidate for Kirkcudbright following the resignation of long-time representative Oliver Bennett. While Corsby's majority was reduced, Connor won a majority of first preference votes and entered parliament at the age of twenty-four. In her first term as a parliamentarian she built close relationships with a number of veteran MPs. Oisean Ambarsan, Alexander Birchall, and Feena Cowper were among those who mentored the young representative and she quickly gained favour within the party.

Her focuses in this first term were rural infrastructure and agricultural policy, two fields that Kirkcudbright's MPs have long specialised in. She was a co-sponsor of the Agricultural Innovation package that helped boost investment in and the sustainability of Scottish farming, and she was party of the policy team that recommended the Corsby government to make the changes it did to the Animal Welfare Act. She consistently voted for increased spending for bus and train networks, breaking ranks with the Prime Minister twice over this. Taking her local concerns to the national stage, she built a social media following and became an icon of young party activists. At the end of 2018, she was named Scotland's most prominent young politician by the Lowland Times.

Eoin Corsby's government was brought down following the 2019 elections just six months later, and Connor originally did not stand for leadership. The three main candidates were Callum Buchan, Owen Evans, and Calvin McGill. Buchan and McGill were moderates, while Evans were a long-time figurehead of the nationalist wing. Connor on the other hand was something different. She was pro-business but she also had a deep concern for rural interests. She was a patriot but not hostile to Europe. She was a conservative, but not a radical. The day before the deadline for nominations, Buchan dropped out and gathered a number of other moderates and conservatives - including Feena Cowper - to nominate a "unity candidate". They picked Connor.

Approached in Parliament just two hours before the deadline, Connor later said that she "felt forced to say yes", but this is something she does not regret. Immediately after her confirmation, Buchan brought pre-filled out paperwork, had her sign it, and rushed to submit it to the party office in Edinburgh. The nomination was so sudden that the media were not aware until after the deadlines had closed.

Connor's campaign was backed immediately by a number of prominent party figures. While initial polling had the contest fairly split between Buchan, McGill, and Evans, the first post-deadline poll gave Connor a comfortable lead over her opponents. In the end she was nominated with 57.6% of the vote to Evans' 35.1% and McGill's 7.3%. Her campaign was simple, made effective use of social media, and stressed three principles of national unity, national development, and national pride. Just a day before her twenty-eighth birthday, Saoirse Connor became the youngest leader of a major party and Leader of the Opposition in Scottish history.

Since 2019 she has embarked on a grand campaign of party modernisation and bridge-building. New branding, new messages, new policies were put forward instantly. Her philosophy is Burkean in its foundation, and expresses itself like the Red Toryism of Canadians such as George Grant or John Diefenbaker. In the past, she has professed her love for MacIntyre and virtue ethics. Her role as Leader of the Opposition has largely been devoted to challenging an "inherent incompetence" within the Progressive administration that she posits has "regressed, not progressed" Scotland's economy and society.

With campaigning underway, Connor has the opportunity to take to the global stage. A victory would be historic, and open up Scotland to a new future for better or for worse. The story of Saoirse Connor has just begun.

[Saor Alba]

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Election 2023: A Week in Review
Craig Pires

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The election campaign is well under-way and has become unavoidable for Scottish voters. Party stalls are lined up and down Buchanan Street, distinctively blue and green posters are on every lamp-post, and politicians are seen out and about around their constituencies. Doors have been knocked on, leaflets have been shoved through letter-boxes, and activists march throughout high streets with banners and loudspeakers supporting their party. Two weeks in and the campaign remains civil, but tension is already visible.

The rhetoric of hAiseag activists has made headlines across the country. Brighde Deòir and Eòin MacCrosain spoke at a rally in Inverness this week where a galvanised support base drowned out left-wing protesters. A crowd of around 3,000 was present at Falcon Square while a smaller protest organised by "Highlanders against Fascism" was organised across the road. The hAiseag campaign has focused on immigration and multiculturalism, with quieter appeals to anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and opposition to lockdowns. MacCrosain has referred to "non-white immigration" as a disease invading the country, and called upon "the sons of Scotland" to "rise up" like those who fought against the English in 1314 to stop immigration.

The RSP and Progressive campaigns have launched blistering attacks on MacCrosain's rhetoric, while the National League has largely focused its campaign on criticising the government and describing their alternative vision. Saoirse Connor was seen in Kirkcudbright and Castle Douglas on Tuesday campaigning as the sole National League candidate in the constituency, and has gave speeches in Dumfries and Glasgow as part of her western tour. The party is rumoured to be targetting Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, and Perthshire as areas vulnerable to a swing away from the Progressives and towards the Development Party and the National League. SNL activists are hoping that vote splitting by the Development Party will be enough to secure the SNL additional seats towards their goal of a parliamentary majority.

The first major polls since the campaign launches last week were published in the past few days. The large Boyd-Europoll survey found that 40% of Scots intended to vote for the SNL, while the Progressives were reduced to just 22%. hAiseag, the Development Party, and the RSP followed on 14%, 13%, and 6% respectively. The poll suggests that National League support remains unaffected while shifts are occuring among other parties. The survey found that Connor (+9%) and Paterson (+2%) were the only leaders with positive approval ratings, while Hunter (-6%), MacCrosain (-10%) Cowan (-17%) had negative approval ratings. Voters said that the most important issues were housing costs (62%), the environment (55%), and immigration (52%). The urban/rural divide between the Progressives and SNL has declined since 2019 (46%-30% urban and 51%-34% rural), however this is attributed to the rise of hAiseag and the Development Party stealing rural votes from the League and urban votes from the Progressives respectively.

Additional polls from Ipsos Mori and Glasgow University found similar results: the National League maintains a healthy lead over the Progressives while the Development Party and hAiseag remain neck and neck. The most recent Glasgow University seat projection determined that the National League had a 95% chance of a majority, with a 10% chance of winning over 85 seats, and a 15% chance that the RSP would be reduced to just one seat. The National League have a number of planned speeches and "policy launches" planned to target commuters around Glasgow and Edinburgh, a crucial swing demographic that will determine the scale of the SNL's victory.

[Saor Alba]

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Election 2023: A Week in Review
Owan Rosach, Local Government Desk

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While the general election continues to grab the headlines, councillors across the south-west region are mobilising for this year's local elections. Nine councils - Ayrshire, Dumbartonshire, Dumfriesshire, Glasgow, Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Stirlingshire, and Wigtownshire - will head to the polls to elect a new council for a four year term, and things are becoming rather exciting. While the usual parties will be contesting elections, the scene has been shaken up by the joint-campaign of hAiseag and the far-right Scots Party. The two entered into an election pact and are running on a joint-platform advocating for restrictions on second home ownership and an expansion of the Galloway Forest Park. The Scots Party was founded as a separatist party in 2014 and won its first seats in Ayrshire and Selkirkshire in the 2019 and 2020 local elections.

The rise of the south aside, the National League are looking to make use of their national popularity to sweep a number of councils. They are currently just shy of a majority in Ayrshire, one of the country's most important councils, are hoping that they can pick it up along with Stirlingshire and Lanarkshire. Local activists in Glasgow have even suggested the possibility of weakening the left-wing enough to establish a minority government with the Development Party, something the party itself has not commented on. Major issues in each election vary from council to council, but some notable topics of debate over the last year have included the partition of Buteshire council and annexation of Arran into Ayrshire and the establishment of a trans-border railway connecting Stranraer to Eyemouth.

Saoirse Connor has been actively campaigning across the south-west but is finishing up her operations in the region before making her way east for a campaign tour of Lothian. Many southerners, especially those outside of Ayrshire, feel neglected at present. The League maintains strong ground operations but those who feel dissatisfied with the party lament the lack of an alternative. Capitalising on this is the Borders Party. The centre-right localist movement was founded by ex-SNL councillors in 2002 and currently has seats in Roxburghshire, Berwickshire, and Dumfriesshire. Less radical than the Scots Party, it primarily promotes Reiver heritage and rural interests. The party is, for the first time, contesting the general election too. Party leader Cllr. Oliver Dodds and deputy leaders Joe Graham and Cllr. Kelly Homes will contest Roxburghshire, Wigtownshire, and Dumfriesshire respectively.

Despite its national decline, the Progressive Party is mounting a competitive game at local elections as it fears massive defeats to the Development Party. Focusing on education and infrastructure issues, the party is focusing on holding onto incumbent seats while attempting to capitalise off of the vote-splitting on the right-wing. The Development Party is not running in Kirkcudbrightshire or Wigtownshire but has fielded between 1-2 candidates in each constituency that it will be competing. Local activists for the party are happy with the progress they have made, citing a warm welcome from disillusioned Progressives and Nationalists alike.

The general and local elections will be held concurrently on 8 May.

[Saor Alba]

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How are people feeling about the election?
Nieve Tait

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It is a strange question to ask in a country like Scotland, where the victory of mass politics which overthrew the old parties and established a new system was quickly met with a conservative approach to the topic. Politics, like religion, became a topic that people refrained from discussing publicly. It was reserved for the newspapers, university debates, and the dinner table. Young generations certainly made their voices heard. Protests were uncommon, but not unheard of. Even during the late 1960s, the height of student radicalism across Europe, Scots maintained a conservative disposition. People voted diligently, and that was the end of discussion.

However, come the 1990s, the children of the post-war generation came of age in a new Scotland. Discontent with the National League, they turned out en-masse to vote James MacKinnon into office in 2000. They were, unlike their parents, willing to march and discuss politics openly in any context. Graduates would be seen with badges or ribbons displaying their party affiliation, but come the 2005 elections politics once more became a private topic. It would not be for another decade, as their children came of age, that a prolonged period of public political discussion became the norm. Millennials and Generation Z are, unlike their parents and grandparents, proud to announce their political affiliations. They disproportionately staff the activist corps in different parties, and some even operate their own activist organisations.

But these youngsters, if the millennials who are now in their forties could be called that, are disillusioned with politics. Opinion polling tells us that just a third of those between 18 and 29 have confidence in Scottish politics. Just forty percent of 30-49 year olds have confidence, while 62% of 50+ voters have confidence. In the past, young Scots had wildly different voting preferences from their elders. The Progressives returned a comfortable majority in the 2000 election and yet over-50s were split evenly between the Progressives and National League, MacKinnon entered government off the back of the two thirds of under 50s that voted for him. Likewise, the Progressives maintained double digit leads with under-50s in the 2013 and 2016 elections while Corsby won off of the support of over-50s. It is no surprise then that, as the future of Scotland, the youth are dissatisfied with their vote that is overshadowed by the elderly. Further, the youth are largely underrepresented as candidates. Just a fifth of Scots are over 65 and yet they make up a quarter of parliamentary candidates. The largest age group, 50-59 year olds, comprises a fifth of the population and yet they comprise a third of all candidates.

It is not just the youth who are underrepresented. There are zero sitting parliamentarians from a non-white ethnic background despite the non-white population sitting at 2.1%. There are just three non-white candidates: two in Glasgow for the RSP, and one independent in Edinburgh. Glasgow has one non-white councillor, despite the non-white population being close to 10%. Women make up 40% of candidates, up from 36% in 2019, and currently comprise 53/150 sitting parliamentarians. While this suggests that women who run for elections are not at a significant disadvantage relative to men - 35% of parliamentarians and 36% of candidates - the overrepresentation of men is still regretted by many female politicians and other public figures. Alistair Hunter and Saoirse Connor have both made promises to enhance female representation, with a disproportionate number of women being ran in "safe seats" by major parties.

Rural voters have expressed a high degree of confidence about Scottish politics, likely emboldened by the likelihood of Saoirse Connor's victory. A rural native herself, her leadership has given a great deal of focus to issues faced in the vast rural lands of Scotland including land reform, local business, transport links, and trade. Urban voters, more supportive of the left-wing parties, tend to be less enthusiastic about the elections.

The aforementioned conservative disposition of Scots has made questions around politics difficult to gauge in the past, but with the country opening up data is considered more and more reliable. Surveys conducted by the Caledonian have found that party affiliation predicts approval of the elections. Supporters of the National League, Development Party, and hAiseag are least worried about the elections, while supporters of the Progressives and the Republican Socialists are most worried. There is consensus among the moderate parties over fears of political radicalism: 58% of voters for the big three are worried about the far-left and far-right, and 34% say that they believe political violence is becoming more likely as a result of radicalism. A majority of supporters of hAiseag and the RSP reject the label "extremist".

[Saor Alba]

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The Campaign Ends, Scotland Votes
Craig Pires, Parliamentary Desk

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One of the outcomes of the Progressive government's new election law is that for the first time in Scottish history, the voting time will be twenty-four hours long. While the election is still referred to as the 8th of May election, the polls opened at 9 PM this evening on the 7th of May. As this report is being broadcast, the first voters are stepping into the polls to send off their ballots. It is hoped that this twenty-four period for voting will help bolster turnout, especially for those who are not eligible for the Monday off. Regardless of what it accomplishes, it marks the end of an eventful campaign in which a dramatic shift in Scottish politics will take place. At this time tomorrow, the polls will close and the votes will be counted. Exit polls will be broadcast by SNTV, Craol, and Channel 4.

How has this election unfolded? A question that many, especially those who tuned out or those abroad, would like to know. Polling has consistently given the centre-right Scottish National League a lead in first preference votes. For two years now, the SNL has averaged a comfortable lead over a Progressive Party which fractured earlier this year. The last week has yielded thirteen polls which average out as follows: National League (42%), Progressive Party (21%), Development Party (16%), hAiseag (14%), Republican Socialists (3%). The twenty-one point lead for the National League is the largest lead in any polling aggregate since 1998. If this polling reflects voters accurately, it would beat out the Progressive Party's 19.4% margin in 2000, the previous record holder.

The campaign has been overshadowed by clashes between right-wing protesters and their opponents. Sixteen were arrested at the end of April following physical altercations in Glasgow, while hAiseag leader Eòin MacCrosain was unable to give a speech in Aberdeen due to security concerns. The response was an organised campaign of harassment towards the Republican Socialists and the Progressive Party by hAiseag activists. The rhetoric and behaviour of the far-right and far-left has certainly galvanised the political centre to action. Hunter, Connor, and Paterson signed a joint statement condemning violent threats and language, while calling for peaceful civic action against extremism.

MacCrosain styled himself as the victim of left-wing fanaticism and took great offence to the joint statement. He ramped up his criticism of the moderate parties and the far-left, pledging to take strong action to defend Scottish democracy from "treacherous radicals". Given the success of hAiseag in the polls, especially as the Progressives and the RSP decline, it is likely that he will interpret tomorrow's results as a victory for his movement. MacCrosain will speak at hAiseag's event in Inverness, with the party holding two other events in Fort William and Glasgow.

The National League will join the Progressives and the RSP with events in Glasgow, while the Development Party will hold theirs in Edinburgh. The upstart centrist party advocates political reform, public investment, environmentalism, and entrepreneurship. The party experienced a dip in the polls as campaigning started, but have since experienced an upward tick back to the 15-17% that they were polling at after their launch in February. The party has had major successes with its campaigning in the Edinburgh area, as well as in traditionally middle class but Progressive voting areas such as Lanarkshire. Inside sources however were disappointed with the campaigning, noting a failure to make significant inroads with National League voters.

While many look forward to voting and finding out the results tomorrow, it should be made clear that in lieu of a historic polling error, the outcome is already known. With 99.8% certainty, Glasgow University researchers have predicted a National League majority. They broke it down further with an 80% chance they will win 80+ seats, a 33% chance that they will win 87+ seats, and a 10% chance that they will win 95+ seats. Their final model predicts that there is a 63% chance that the RSP will be reduced to just a single seat, and a 20% chance that the Progressives will be left with under 30 seats. The fracturing of Scottish politics has renewed calls for electoral reform, with the Development Party including the transition to proportional representation in their manifesto - a policy once exclusive to the RSP.

It is not just the general elections that people are tuning into. In the south-west region, from Wigtownshire to Stirlingshire, voters will be casting a second ballot for their councillors. The south-west, along with the south-east, yields a greater diversity in results than the other two local council regions. Local elections held concurrently with general elections usually yield good results for those who perform well in the general elections, but mixing in smaller parties like the centre-right Borders Party and the far-right Scots Party along with independents of all stripes can make for exciting races.

All eyes are on Glasgow as the collapse of left-wing politics gives the centre and the right-wing an avenue to make gains, and the National League looks poised to secure a historic majority on Ayrshire council.

[Saor Alba]

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The Polls Have Closed
Hugh Ward and Robyn Cowan, General Election Desk

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Weeks of campaigning and twenty-four hours of voting are coming to a close. In less than a minute, we will receive our exit poll and share that of other broadcasters. To give a brief recap of this election, it was one like Scotland has never seen before. Violent incidents, increasingly hostile rhetoric among candidates, and a political divide that could shape the left-wing for a generation. Now, for SNTV's exit poll.

SNTV can project that the Scottish National League is the largest party with 43.1% of first preference votes, followed by the Progressives on 20.6%, the Development Party on 17.2%, hAiseag on 14.5%, and the Republican Socialist Party on 2.1%. By constituency we can project that the National League will be the largest party in 29 of Scotland's 34 counties, with the Progressives leading in Glasgow, Dunbartonshire, and Renfrewshire, while hAiseag leads in Sutherland & Caithness and Inverness-shire. In terms of seats, we project that the National League will win 89 seats. The Progressives will trail them on 25, the Development Party on 20, and hAiseag on 15. The Republican Socialist Party has lost all but one of its seats.

If our exit poll is correct, then this sounds a drastic change in the Scottish political landscape. The opposition is divided while the government will command a strong majority. Saoirse Connor will become the youngest Prime Minister in Scottish history and the first female to serve in the post since Laura McKenzie in 1982. The League will have swept into constituencies that a first place finish in was unthinkable just a decade ago, such as Midlothian and Fife.

Three other exit polls have been unveiled at this time. Craol's exit poll puts the National League on 87 seats with the Progressives on 37. The Development Party and hAiseag share 12 seats each as the RSP secures 2. Channel 4's exit poll is certainly going to make waves on social media. They project a National League victory of 89 seats like us, but they put the Development Party on 23 seats to the Progressives' 22, with hAiseag on 15 and the RSP on 1. If this is true, it breaks the two-party dominant system that Scotland has operated under for a century. Throughout the night, SNTV will update the public with the news. The first count has already been completed in Kinross where the Scottish National League candidate, Owen Evans, has, on the first count, won a majority of the vote (58.2%) and secured re-election. In the 2019 election he won just 44% of the first preference vote.

[Saor Alba]

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Election Results 2023: The Analysis
Paul Murray

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After a count lasting less than twenty-four hours, the final results of Scotland's general election have been certified. The Royal Election Commission confirmed the results in a statement issued just before 9 PM on the 9th of May. The Scottish National League leads in first preference votes with 42.9%, followed by the Progressives on 20.4%, the Development Party on 18.1%, hAiseag on 14.7%, and the Republican Socialist Party on 1.8%. The more than twenty-two percent margin between the SNL and the Progressives is the largest gap in first-preference votes since the new electoral system was established. As far as seats go, this translates to 88 seats for the National League, 24 for the Progressives, 21 for the Development Party, 16 for hAiseag, and just one for the Republican Socialists. SNTV's exit poll suggested the SNL would be the largest party in Midlothian, however in a shocking turn of events the Development Party has bested them and the Progressives.

The comfortable majority that the National League have obtained, coupled with a divided opposition, will leave Connor with no excuses when it comes to implementing her legislative agenda and ensuring good governance. Speaking at the party's election event in Glasgow following the exit polls, Connor gave a speech thanking her supporters and pledging all of her resolve to fix Scotland's problems.

"I wish, above all, to extend my sincerest gratitude to the Scotsmen and Scotswomen who turned out to lend us their vote. We know from internal polling that many people who had never voted for the National League before made the decision to do so today... I pledge all of my strength, all of my effort, and all of my love as a patriotic Scottish woman to lead a government for our people and our country. I will work with my colleagues in the government but also those outside of it to build a stronger Scotland, with a prosperous economy and a peaceful social order... Our immediate tasks have been made clear. We will resolve the housing crisis, we will restore the public's trust in our legal system with comprehensive and sensible reform, and we will make Scotland a nation of strong families once more... Many at home have lost hope in our political process, they have lent their vote to extreme political projects. But today we tell them that Scotland is waking from her slumber, and we will do as our manifesto said and revive Scotland."

Connor will meet with His Majesty the King now that the results are certified and offer herself to form a government in his name. All eyes will be on her, but attention must be paid to the other parties in Scotland. The centre-left Progressives have been the primary revival of the League for sixty years, and their predecessor the Labour Party served that function for fifty years preceding it. But the party has recorded its worst result in history and the rest of the opposition combined is larger. Now, it must be made clear that there will be little cooperation between hAiseag and the RSP with the Development Party. But the idea that the Progressives would make up less than 40% of the opposition would be an absurd suggestion this time last year. The party must take a long time to search for itself, and Hunter himself acknowledged this in his concession speech.

"It has been a privilege and an honour to serve as Prime Minister of Scotland and as leader of the Progressive Party. The results of this election, a great exercise in our democratic process, have made it clear that my tenure has not satisfied the Scottish public and therefore I will not be able to form another government and I will be resigning as leader of the Progressive Party... It is evident that the political tradition I inherited is, in its current form, not palatable enough to the public to win an election. It is my hope that I can contribute to the party's tenure in opposition, that we can rebuild effectively and once more win the hearts of the Scottish public for the social democratic and progressive cause..."

In Edinburgh, the Development Party celebrated a massive victory. The result was fortunately greater than that which Craol projected, but after the Channel 4 exit poll there was much hope that Paterson would lead the opposition. Regardless, their gathering was youthful and professional in nature. Paterson and other members of the party gave short speeches thanking their supporters as they secured four of Midlothian's 11 seats, with the League and Progressives reduced to three each. In Inverness, Glasgow, and Fort William, three separate events commemorated hAiseag's historic performance. Party leader MacCrosain declared it the beginning of a "Scottish reconquista", and vowed to build on this going forward as a means of securing a future for Scottish children, echoing the white nationalist "fourteen words" slogan.

In one event in Glasgow, however, things were very gloomy. As the long-time leader of the Republican Socialist Party, the Manchester-born economist Lincoln Cowan did not expect to be the last one standing as the party lost all but one seat. Cowan was comfortably re-elected but the three other RSP candidates in Glasgow, Adam Boyle and Ella Ferguson, were eliminated with pitiful vote shares. The party suffered majorly in local elections too. The "Popular Coalition" with the Glasgow Worker's Party was reduced from 18 to 5 seats in the city council, despite it being the most left-wing local government in all of Scotland. Cowan offered his resignation and the unseated deputy leader Matthew Arran will take over provisionally.

The outcome of this election is very self-evident. The left-wing has a lot of work to do to recover itself. The centre-right is more powerful than ever, though the Development Party and hAiseag could threaten it from both of its flanks. Regardless of this, Saoirse Connor has galvanised the National League and they now have four years to undo Hunter's government and leave their own legacy.

[Saor Alba]

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Local Election Results 2023: The Analysis
Anna Doyle

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After a prolonged count, the results for the south-west region's local elections have been published by the Royal Election Commission. Like in the general elections, the right-wing have achieved significant gains across the region. In the counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire, the centre-right coalition of the National League and the Borders Party achieved majorities which will form the next governments, while the hAiseag-Scots Party coalition achieved significant gains too. In Stirlingshire and Lanarkshire, the National League emerged as the largest party, though they fell shy of a majority, while hAiseag made small gains. The Development Party emerged as a significant player in both of these counties, finishing in third behind the Progressives in a position that will likely enable them to play kingmaker.

However, it must be noted that the National League is very different in both of these counties. The Stirlingshire Nationals are more alike to Saoirse Connor. Their leader, Lauchlan Marshall, is a self-described "national conservative" and "post-liberal". He shares the rural upbringing and paternalism of Connor, but he has expressed a willingness to work with hAiseag if necessary unlike Connor who dodged the question whenever asked. The Lanarkshire Nationals are more like Eoin Corsby. Their policies focus on farmers in the south and commuters in the north, a similar constituency to the Development Party. While Lanarkshire allows for minority governments, it is likely that the League will pursue a coalition with the Development Party to strengthen itself against the Progressives. Lanarkshire is the largest county council in the country, designed in such a way to adequately balance representation of the rural south of the county with the commuter belt in the north and the small towns in the centre from Kirkmuirhill to Biggar.

The biggest stories came from Dunbartonshire, Glasgow, Ayrshire, and Renfrewshire. Renfrewshire and Glasgow saw notable gains for the National League while the left-wing declined. In Renfrewshire, the Progressives remained the largest party with 21 seats, edging out the National League's 18. With the support of independents and the two remaining RSP councillors, it is likely that the Progressives will be able to reach the 26 seats needed for a majority in the 51 seat council. In Glasgow, they might not be so lucky. The left-wing government formed by the Progressives, the Worker's Party, and the RSP had a combined 39 seats after the 2019 elections. After the Development Party split, they were reduced to 36. After this election, they have just 28. The Progressives were able to gain two seats as the "Popular Coalition" of the RSP and the Worker's Party fell to just five seats. The Development Party secured just six seats, less than ten percent of the total and a poor performance relative to their first-preference vote share in the general election (21%). The National League recorded its best result of the twenty-first century with a comfortable nineteen, and hAiseag grew to eight.

The composition of this term's city council is quite worrying for municipal political stability. The Development Party is unwilling to work with the far-right or the far-left, meaning that any coalition with the Progressives or the National League would require the support of at least some of the other. A Progressive + Development + Gàidhlig coalition would have just 30 seats, two shy of a majority. If the PC or moderates from the League propped it up, a government could form. Otherwise, Parliament may have to step in and force a snap election. In Dunbartonshire, the left-wing held onto its majority with the incumbent Progressives-RSP government reduced from 24/37 seats to 20/37. The Development Party secured just one seat as the National League won 15. The result came as a relief to the Progressive politicos who feared that the National League would end up victorious in one of the most left-wing counties in the country.

Despite the commotion in Glasgow, it was Ayrshire that stole the headlines. The National League won a historic majority on the county council, increasing its share of the seats from 41 to 48. The Republican Socialists lost all of their seats and the Progressives were reduced to just 15 as the Development Party overtook them to become the primary opposition party on 18 seats. The far-right coalition between hAiseag and the Scots Party secured 9 seats, an increase from the five that they had previously. The National League last had a majority in Ayrshire county council between 1983-1987, but have governed continuously since 1971. The county council requires just a plurality of "yes" votes to affirm a government. The result for the Development Party was the high point of their local election campaign but should not be a surprise as they also came second in first-preference votes in the general election for the Ayrshire constituency. It is the first council in the country in which the Development Party are the primary opposition.

The results of these local elections were largely expected, but nevertheless have important ramifications now that they have materialised. The Development Party has shown its strength as an electoral vehicle and the far-right has improved its representation across the board. The National League has cemented itself as the dominant party of the south-west, but only time will tell whether this is a temporary overspill from the Progressive collapse, or a permanent victory.

[Saor Alba]

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Saoirse Connor and the New National League
Finlay Cohen

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The National League has never been a unified party, but old divides have faded away and new ones have emerged. It is more important than ever to understand the internal groupings of the party now that they take power.

Historians of Scottish politics often understand the National League in two separate eras: the nationalist era, and the conservative era. The nationalist era was the time of Erskine, Gillies, Spence, and Wood. Gillies was a committed socialist, Erskine was a social Catholic, Spence was a reactionary, and Wood was a liberal. This eclectic gathering was not to last, and the party gradually became dominated by conservative thinkers. By the 1940s, the Republican Socialists had absorbed the left-wing elements of the National League and so began the "conservative era" of the party from 1946 onwards. Well, not quite. The party remains on the centre-right but the post-1946 era came to an end back in 2019.

When Eoin Corsby took over the party in January 2010, few believed he would come to have the impact that he did on Scottish politics. He would assume power in 2013 with a surprising landslide and hold onto it narrowly in 2016. His defeat in 2019 has resulted in a rather quick disappearance from the public conscience, but his influence is still felt within the National League. From 1946 to 2010, the National League was largely divided between three factions which emerged from geographic, religious, and social divides. Corsby was a representative of the party's moderate wing; made up of well-educated, fiscally conservative residents of the central belt. His opponent in the 2010 leadership race, Fraser McEwan, was a representative of the party's agrarian wing. Socially conservative and concerned with the interests of farmers, this grouping was largely centred in the Highlands & Islands and the southern counties. Last but not least were the conservatives, a grouping that shared aspects of both the moderates (fiscal conservatism, pro-Europeanism) and the agrarians (agricultural focus, social conservatism). They were largely Protestant and centred in small towns or commuter towns.

These three factions are observed unanimously throughout the twentieth century research on the party. From early newspaper reports on the party's opposition to Kenneth Martin, to the seminal works about the National League by scholars Elsie MacKenna and Paul Wallis. And yet come the 2010s, these divisions fade away. In my profile of Connor I still make reference to the moderate, nationalist, and conservative wings of the party, but that was a three-horse race in 2019 and those divisions could be seen in the candidates. Nevertheless, those divisions were not the main ones. Upon reinspection, we can see that McGill was a firm "continuity candidate". He was a free marketer who gave little attention to cultural issues and was not interested in the immigration debate. Callum Buchan, a close ally of Corsby, shared his pro-business outlook but was opposed to disregard for immigration. Buchan trailed McGill and was able to gather support for Connor, who ate up both Buchan and McGill's supporters, as well as a lot of supporters of the frontrunner: Owen Evans. Evans was a popular figure in the party's right-wing, holding anti-immigration views along with an agricultural streak. He would later go on to be one of Connor's biggest backbench supporters.

In the old system, Buchan would be a conservative while Evans would be an agrarian. McGill would sit firmly in the moderate camp. But Connor? It is hard to say. Her economic and social paternalism sets her apart from all three factions, representing a new strain of thought in Scottish conservatism. But is it really new? Quite the contrary. Connor's thought resembles that of Erskine, a socially conscious conservatism. For the liberal minded it is a step too far to the left, but many who were disillusioned with Corsby are willing to join Connor's experiment. Her leadership in the party has ended the "1946 System" of the National League, and gave birth to a new system: the 2019 system.

We can see two clear factions in the National League today. A "liberal conservative" grouping, primarily made up of moderates but also many conservatives and some agrarians, have coalesced around Mark Kennon and Calvin McGill. These are the "Corsbyites", they advocate pro-business policy and fiscal conservatism. This group is generally moderate on social or cultural issues which liberal on the economy. They aren't concerned with environmentalism, cultural issues like LGBT or immigration, and primarily focus on affairs such as the economy or crime. Their opposites are the "new conservatives", coalescing around Saoirse Connor and Joshua Young. This grouping is made up primarily of those who would have been considered "agrarians" or "conservatives" in the past. On the economy they are rather moderate, rejecting the dogmatic fiscal conservatism of the Corsbyites and advocating public spending to improve infrastructure and increase housing stock. They are not afraid to get into cultural issues, largely opposing same-sex marriage and abortion liberalisation, and maintaining the Church Law as it is at present.

How do the factions shape up in influence? The New Conservatives are indisputably the largest faction at present. Saoirse Connor, David Barnett, Callum Buchan, Feena Cowper, Craig Hart, and Joshua Young all fit squarely within this grouping, while Euan McGuire, Mark Kennon, and Keegan Crawford are the only Corsbyites sitting in cabinet. This means that a plurality of the cabinet (6/14) are unaffiliated, sitting in a limbo that seems to be just typically "National Leagueist". At a county level, we can definitely see local branches that are more Corsbyite and some that are more Connorite. The Lanarkshire and Midlothian branches of the League were always dominated by the moderates, and today they remain bastions of fiscal conservatism. Meanwhile the southern counties as well as Ayrshire and Fife are composed of agrarians, social conservatives, and nationalists that remain firmly loyal to Connor.

[Saor Alba]

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Schism begets Schism: A Left-Wing Alternative
Marcus Erichsen

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A historic defeat for Scotland's left-wing is being attributed to liberal schism earlier this year. But party radicals, dismayed with the outcome, are preparing for another schism.

Over three months ago, the Review hosted Andy Paterson's op-ed on behalf of the newly launched Democratic Caucus. Just two weeks later the Democratic Caucus emerged as a new political party, and twelve weeks from launch they came third in the general elections. The meteoric rise of the Development Party highlights how eager Scottish voters were for something new, and it seems that left-wing activists are catching onto this.

With the resignation of Alistair Hunter bringing an end to ten years of party leadership, a new leadership election will have to take place in the party. This election will decide who the next leader of the opposition will be, and so it is not merely a contest for party members to tune into but for the wider public as well. While no candidacies have been announced yet, temporary leader Julia Corselle and former Foreign Minister Conall Gordon are expected to announce their campaigns. The two are representatives of the party's moderate wing, and their campaigns will be fought by members of the party's left-wing. The defeat of Elijah Holmes, the only Jewish parliamentarian in Scotland, has been lamented by young left-wingers on social media who saw him as a future leader of the party, but he has colleagues of a similar ideological stripe who are perhaps more prepared for leadership. His fellow Dundonian, Molly Vincent, served as Deputy Minister for Housing & Development (succeeding him in that post) and is a professed socialist. While not identifying as such, the thirty-seven year old former Justice Minister, Èibhlin Riabhaich, is touted as one of the most prominent left-wing voices in the party. Despite Corselle being the lead candidate for the Progressives in Glasgow, it was Riabhaich who won more first-preference votes.

But what happens if the moderates win once more? The populist, "radical but not extreme" left-wing have not held power in the Progressive Party since 1993, when Fletcher Bell was ousted as leader after defeat in the 1993 general election. Since then, the party has been under the control of a succession of centre-left leaders. James MacKinnon, Conall Dulghallach, Ellie Johnson, and Alistair Hunter. The party succeeded under this period of moderate leadership but the collapse of 2023 has given room for a second opinion to emerge. The left-wing faction centred around the Party Values Group were calling for Hunter's resignation before the 2023 election due to bad polling, and it is evident from off-hand comments that left-wing figures in the party are not positive about their chances of winning in 2027 under another moderate leader.

Sources within the PVG suggest that they are preparing an alternative to the Progressives. Between 2020-22, an environmentalist political party called the Ecological Revolution existed in Morayshire. Made up of ex-Progressives who defected, the party lost their four seats in the 2022 local elections. Likewise in Aberdeenshire, an alternative to the Progressives was established but it lost its seats in 2022. With a network of ex-Progressive activists, dissatisfied with party leadership but not extreme enough for the RSP, an independent PVG party could have the support to win seats at parliament. The question is whether or not running independently would be prudent.

With the rumours circulating already, Progressive members and commentators put out calls for party unity on social media. The defeat is something that can be recovered from, something to strengthen the future of the progressive movement, they said. The optimism is commendable, but the scale of the defeat suggests that the party needs a complete overhaul. For too long, the party has sought to straddle the centre, the centre-left, and the left. It lost the centre, and it is now losing the left-wing.

[Saor Alba]

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Scottish Government launch Consultation for Local Government Reform
Craig Pires, Parliamentary Desk

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The topic of local government reform is one which has been discussed for decades. In 1981, amid controversy over council reforms passed by the Progressive government of Laura McKenzie, the Federalist Party emerged in the Highlands as a major force of local politics. Its popularity quickly disappeared and it remains just a minor party in Inverness County today, but the idea of Scottish federalism lives on. A localist herself, Saoirse Connor campaigned on a platform which promised a consultation to reform the local government system that has existed in its current form for over a century. After over a month in government, this project has been launched.

The Consultation on Scottish Local Government was launched this morning with outlines for three plans to change the system. The first is the "Council-Service Board" proposal, which make minor reforms to the existing council system while consolidating some to create the new councils of Galloway and the Borders, as well as the new council of the Western Isles. Further, it would create separate Services Boards as sisters to the Council to cover the provision of public healthcare, fire & rescue, and the police - previously responsibilites of Parliament.

The second suggestion is the "Provincial" proposal, which would reorganise local government into a two tiered system with nine provinces and 78 councils. Provinces would be responsible for the administration of public services within a broad, national framework - transport, healthcare, education, emergency services, social services - while local councils would cover administrative tasks such as the recording of births, deaths, and marriages, as well as other affairs such as housing regulations, maintenence of roads, pavements, and parks, and refuse collection, while working with councils and other bodies to perform other tasks.

The final proposal is titled "Specialisation", and proposed the establishment of a number of new elected bodies named "Commissions" to deal with different tasks. Healthcare would be covered by a Health Commission, road maintenence by a Roads Commission, and so forth. Each commission would have different borders to optimise their ability to perform tasks. There would be just five Health Commissions while there would be 102 Housing Commissions. The proposal is bold and was the work of Professor Adam Currey, a former Progressive councillor for Fife.

The consultation allows anyone in the public to participate by responding to a survey on the three proposals and/or submitting their own written evaluations of each proposal. Further, parliamentarians and councillors are authorised to submit their own proposals which will be submitted for public review in the second stage of the consultation if they are approved by at least five sitting MPs or forty-eight sitting councillors.

[Saor Alba]

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The Triumph of Provincialism
Peter Huisman

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The topic of local government reform has been one which has plagued Scotland since the McKenzie reforms. The restraints she imposed were never fully lifted and despite two decades of decentralisation, conservative critics have considered local government to be the weakest aspect of Scotland's political system. All of this has changed with the election of Saoirse Connor, who continues to remain highly popular seven months after her election and who has proposed a host of reforms to local government. The first stage of the consultation ended last month and the final outcome was published in a parliamentary report celebrated by the National League, confirming the triumph of the provincialist cause which Connor has championed since taking over the League.

The proposal is very simple: Scotland will be reorganised into nine provinces which are further sub-divided into seventy-eight districts. While provincial borders have not been finalised, the goal is to carefully organise them in such a way that both respects the history and culture of these regions but also enables efficient governance. The provinces will be the primary level of local government and will handle regional issues and strategic planning. Provinces will take care of education, health, transportation, and emergency services among other things, while the districts will provide their own services such as social care, refuse collection, and so on. The municipalities will facilitate local decision-making and empower communities, and is geared towards creating innovations in local governance.

The journey to provincialism has not been an easy one. In the aftermath of the centralising reforms of McKenzie, a reactionary federalist movement emerged which sought the creation of a federal Scotland with four provinces created out of thin air. While a strong force in the Highlands, its eccentric cast of personalities was off-putting to moderates within the National League and the issue of local government was considered settled as a result. Come the early 2000s, a new movement for local government reform emerged and published the white paper for Innovative Local Governance.

Saoirse Connor played no role in this - after all, she was just thirteen - but her adoption of it came under the tutelage of Callum Buchan, her mentor and the incumbent Deputy Minister and Minister for Local Government. Buchan has been a long-time proponent of the idea and contributed to the white paper's section on economic development. Indeed, Buchan was a vocal critic of local government mismanagement under both Corsby and Hunter. His proposed reform package at the end of the Corsby government was defeated narrowly by defectors who feared it would harm the party in the 2019 elections, but Buchan remained committed to the proposal. While in the Shadow Cabinet under Connor, he joined the Institute for Local Government and began working to draft the new proposal which was adopted last month.

The Connor-Buchan model of provincialism is overwhelmingly popular with the public today. 60% of respondents to a commissioned survey responded favourably to it, with 28% responding negatively. League, Development, and hAiseag voters are most favourable to the project, while just 20% of Progressives support it. Experts are much more divided. The Centre for Democratic Policy issued an evaluation which warns of job redundancies and poorer working conditions for local government staff as well as the need to hire and train a substantial number to accommodate the new system. Èibhlin Riabhaich criticised it in parliament as a "radical" proposal which could disrupt the provision of essential services for up to a decade, harming health and educational outcomes in particular.

Connor has valiantly defended her proposals by noting that the central government will shrink and civil servants will be dispatched to staff the new provinces along with existing county officials. Disruption will be minimised by phasing in changes over a multi-year long period, and the long-term benefits will outweigh any problems caused. One recommendation she took up was to introduce financial compensation for any problems which can be identified as a consequence of the reforms.

The local government reforms of Connor are just part of a sweeping series of reforms she looks to enact in her first term. Natalie Murray has looked to overturn Riabhaich's progressive approach to justice and restore powers to the court that were taken from them. Eòghan Tindall is looking to embolden the police and security forces to crack down on drug gangs that plague impoverished communities, and Keegan Crawford is issuing directives which challenge the teaching of "gender ideology" and "decolonisation" programmes in primary & secondary schools. These institutional reforms will entrench conservatism in Scotland for at least a generation and could turn the country into the Poland or Hungary of northern-Europe, albeit one which respects the rule of law.

[Saor Alba]

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Buchan, Barnett, and Barbara: A Grand Gambit
Calvin Murphy

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Ayrshire has for long been a stronghold for the National League. The crescent shaped region is largely flat, flanked by the hills of the southern uplands and the Renfrewshire heights, and has been a centre of population in the south-west since time immemorial. Industrialisation raised the profile of Ayrshire even further and going into the 20th century it was a rather affluent collection of small towns with a cultural history to be proud of: the birthplace of Burns and Wallace, the site of Viking defeat at Largs and the home of many great inventors, politicians, and sportsmen. But Ayrshire has been stagnating for decades. Population declines are affecting the smaller towns while many larger towns report empty high streets and shopping centres. Despite this, confidence in the National League is high and it is no surprise why.

A remedy has been proposed by three of their politicians, Ministers David Barnett & Callum Buchan and Secretary Barbara MacDonald. The plan for the rejuvenation of Ayrshire, titled the Ayrshire County Development Initiative (ACDI) proposes a massive number of projects to revitalise life in the county. The most striking of them all is a plan to build a tram network across the county to replace the inter-town bus and rail services. The project would create lines starting in Maybole, Dalmellington, and Cumnock which would meet at Prestwick International Airport, before moving up to Irvine and completing itself in Ardrossan. An additional line would run from Darvel to Stewarton through Kilmarnock, where a connection would be available to Irvine.

The programme has drawn much interest in Ayrshire where it has received the support of much of the National League, whose internal polling for a tram network saw high levels of support in the smaller towns. Ayr and Kilmarnock were the least enthusiastic and the only two communities to report opposition to it, with 47% of Ayr residents and 45% of Kilmarnock residents voicing opposition. Nevertheless, the National League commissioned poll found that 38% of Ayrshire residents supported it compared to 30% who were opposed. A majority of League voters were supportive of the proposal.

The tram network was not the only proposal. A number of plans were put forward to redesign the county's population centres, with ambitious developments proposed for Ayr, the Three Towns, Stewarton, Cumnock, and Kilmarnock. The establishment of an Ayrshire Housing Corporation was also proposed as an autonomous development out of the Council's housing committee to ensure stable developments in housing stock.

The plan for development in Ayr would see the development of new social housing estates in the Hospital and Crofthead regions of the town, while the old housing estates along the river would be demolished. They would be replaced with a new promenade from the university campus stretching down to the harbour, with subsidies put in place to encourage the growth of shops and the hospitality sector in the area. The area would be totally pedestrianised to allow for restaurants and cafes to have outdoor seating during the spring and summer.

Similar housing expansions were put forward in the Three Towns, with the fields south of the A78 and west of the B714 to be turned into new estates. Just a quarter of this new housing would be made up of single family homes, with half being duplexes and the remainder being flats with four or more units. Further investment would be directed at modernising the areas around Ardrossan harbour and South Beach. At the opposite end, housing stock will be increased in Cumnock around the Barony campus in Holmhead. The town centre would receive similar investments to encourage business.

The proposals for Kilmarnock and Stewarton are likely being done to encourage an influx of commuters. New luxury housing will be built in Kilmaurs and south of Dunlop, with additional mixed estates of single-family homes and duplexes proposed for other parts. A series of apartment blocks up to ten storeys tall would be built in the city centres with between four and eight units per storey. To accompany this, new commercial units would be built along with new nurseries, primary schools, and secondary schools.

While the proposals were put forward by three politicians from outside of Ayrshire, the key player behind the scenes was former councillor Aiden MacLean, who now heads the South-West Policy Forum think tank. MacLean served three terms as councillor for New Cumnock and was long dismayed with the neglect for the south of the county. His think tank was established in 2010 and has been valued by both the League and the Progressives since its inception.